All the things I haven't told you and the reason I didn't see you for Christmas

It's 3 AM and we just had a fire alarm. Seriously? I suppose I would have been more upset if I actually was sleeping. Yes, I am such a night owl. I suppose it's in my blood, a few of my siblings have the same gene.

Lately, I've been busy with school, rugby, and friends. I've been finding myself quite happy here in the big city. But recently, I've realized that I need to focus more on my studies if I want to do well on my exams. So, I spent about six hours at the library this evening, I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but it's a start.

Over Christmas break I visited Rome, Dublin, and Scotland where I finally was able to fulfill my yearning for adventure and excitement. And what an adventure it was. I found it to be one of the most exciting things I have ever done and hopefully it's just the beginning.

Here's a synopsis:

Before I departed for Rome, I had to pack my bag and make sure all my ducks were in a row because it was the first time I would be traveling around Europe and I was on my own. And as usual, I was pressed until the very last minute. Before I know it I am literally running back to Wilson at 4 AM so I can make my flight on time. In my defense, the website I need to print my boarding pass from was "malfunctioning"...for several hours and without my pass I was s.o.l. So, there I am sweating my ass off, at who knows what hour, and running around Hyde Park to get to my dorm as fast as possible. Yes, I said around Hyde Park, not through. You see, if I were able to go through Hyde Park I wouldn't be running because it's only a half an hour walk, but since it was past midnight I had to haul my ass all the way around the park, which was a good hour or so. It was possible to cut through the park, but at night that's a bit of a risky deal, if you don't want to get jumped, that is. So, I'm just jogging along and minding my own business when out of nowhere a fox appears. I jog past him and he jogs past me, and for a moment it was as if we were thinking the same thing, "WTF?" A fox randomly walking along the streets of London??? Some girl going for a jog in the middle of the night with her bookbag on??? Needless to say, it was an odd sight.

Fast forward, I'm sitting there waiting for the shuttle to the airport until I see it approaching and it just keeps on driving. I'm wondering what just happened and I start to panic. If I don't get to the airport on time, I'll miss my flight, and then I'll miss my other three flights, and I'll have to spend Christmas doing nothing and be all alone in London. I feel a lump in my throat and I am about to start crying. I tell myself to calm down. I start walking, no where in particular, I am just walking about and trying to figure out what to do, and I'm not sure at that point. Finally, I flag down a taxi. He can tell that I'm about to burst into tears and he offers to give me a ride to where I need to be to catch the shuttle. He drops me off, I pay him and thank him. Once I get on the shuttle I feel a huge surge of relief and I pass out until we get to the airport.


Somewhere over France on the plane ride to Rome as excitement ran through my veins


My first view of Italy and when I started to feel a little nervous


I made it from the airport to the city centre, okay I can do this


Yay, my hostel! In just a few hours time I would be crashed up in my assigned bed, I was exhausted at this point


The best pizza in the world!


This was my first day to roam around Rome and one of my favorite pictures from my trip


Don't be fooled, I froze my ass off this day, along with every other day


A beautiful view of Rome


Huge! Me, right outside the Pantheon


I was very excited by this, I totally did not know that this was a real beer.


Oh my gosh, I will never forget this! I was on the way to the Colosseum with a friend I met in our hostel and it was cold and rainy and the one day I didn't take my hat


I love this one, it was when I was just wandering around taking snap shots


This was a garden that totally creeped my shit out, nobody was around and I thought I was going to get murdered here, it was eerie but I was curious, needless to say, I didn't stay long.


This is reminiscent of the most romantic date I've ever had and an evening in Rome I'll never forget


Me out on a pub crawl in Dublin with my new found friend


Streets of Dublin before the dawn


When I first got to Edinburgh and was totally taken by it all


These baked potatoes were glorious


Street view


Traditional meal of haggis and beer, and it was lovely


Edinburgh was the home to some of the first skyscrapers


This makes me wish I was there, *tear*


One of the New Year's celebrations, a bunch of people with torches. Then we went to the top of a hill and lit stuff on fire, it was awesome


I got to hold a torch! I felt like it was 200 years ago and I was in a mob of angry townspeople


A night on the town with my amazing Aussie mates and it started snowing


The highlands I want to move to


See, it's like I belong here...now I just need a Scottish guy, hmmmm...


The word "beautiful" doesn't do it justice



A WWII monument which the Scottish people hold a great respect for


My heart broke a little when I had to leave